Some People Make the Future
by The Disappeared
Summary: Some people make the future. Others wait for it to come to them. Mal and his crew have always been more for making than waiting, but they make an exception when the future shows up on their doorstep in the form of a mysterious girl. Canon pairings. Updates at least once a month. Chapter 6, Revelations, up!
1. An Unexpected Surprise

**A/N:** So I've had this idea rolling around in my head for a while now about how adding an OC (the details of whom will be revealed shortly) would change a story. I couldn't get the thought out of my head, so I wrote it and I really like the way it's turning out. Chapters will start out short, but I anticipate them getting longer in the future.

**Disclaimer:** Joss Whedon is awesome, and obviously I don't own or profit from any of his awesome show.

* * *

She appeared as out of nowhere. One minute Mal was mentally tallying the odds of their getting work on Persephone, and the next there was a girl on Serenity's ramp. The fact that she'd managed to get so close to their hold without his noticing was impressive enough – the fact that she'd managed to do so in a cumbersome wheelchair, of all things, made Mal worry he was beginning to drop his guard a bit too low on Persephone. While the planet was certainly one of their more frequent destinations, it would not do to get attached, as he firmly reminded himself.

Mal surveyed the girl before deciding what to do with her. Pale skinned, good posture – hallmarks of having been raised on a Core planet. The brunette was slight of build and couldn't have seemed less physically threatening if she'd tried – yet, something about the look on her face made Mal instantly wary. His gut told him the girl meant trouble, and Mal always listened to his gut.

Mind made up, Mal pivoted to address her.

"'Scuze me, Miss, but you seem to have misplaced yourself," he said, in an outwardly jovial manner that nonetheless made his displeasure clear. "We're not taking passengers."

"Oh, I'm not a passenger," she replied steadily, meeting his eyes. "I'm crew."

Mal's face contorted in an expression of sardonic disbelief before he smiled cynically and said, "Either I misheard you or you're on the wrong boat, because I know my crew and you ain't one of 'em."

"I will be," the girl said, with the kind of certainty that could make a man question whether the sky was blue.

"And why," Mal asked, patience wearing thin, "would I even want you on my boat in the first place, much less as crew? Doesn't seem as you'd be much use," he added, staring pointedly at her wheelchair.

"Eventually, it will be because you care about me. In the shorter term, you'll have me on because I'm worth my weight in gold, whether you realize it yet or not. And in the immediate period, it'll be because your current crew is headed back here now, Feds hot on their heels, and if you don't take me with you I'll tell the Feds all the information I have on you and your crew."

"Listen lady, I don't know what you think you know about me – "

"- Malcolm Reynolds, captain of this boat. Records suggest you're 49, but you're actually 31. Born on Shadow, sergeant for the Independents during the war, current smuggler – need I go on?" the girl asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Because we really need to get going if we're going to avoid the Feds."

"他妈的混蛋！"Mal swore colorfully. He knew in his gut the girl was telling the truth about the Feds, or at least believed she was telling the truth and that was enough for him. He flipped the switch on the comm. "Listen, Wash, we may have a situation down here. Get ready for a quick exit if things turn bad."

He barely registered Wash's reply, he was so focused on the problem at hand. As if on cue, Kaylee, Zoe, and Jayne burst into view, out of breath from having raced to get back.

"Captain, we've got a problem," Kaylee burst out. The remaining two crew members slowed as they approached the ship and sized up the mysterious new girl, Zoe because she'd (correctly) assessed her to be a threat, and Jayne because apparently his lecherous nature didn't mind if a girl was able bodied or not.

"Feds are after us!" Kaylee continued, voice awash with emotion. "I don't know what we did, but Zoe caught one of them tailing us on the way back here. We don't have long before they're – "

" – I get the idea, Kaylee, thank you," Mal said, externally calm, internally fighting the urge to punch something. "Wash," he said, pushing the comm button again, "that take off would be great any time now."

"Anything for you, captain," Wash said, ever cheerful, although an undercurrent of tension was evident in his voice, no doubt wondering at the cause for this sudden change in plans.

"Zoe, button her up," Mal said, quickly deciding on a plan of action and feeling the better for it. "Jayne, watch our newest 'passenger'. Keep her here in the hold, don't take your eyes off her."

"No problem," Jayne said, with an obvious leer at the girl.

"On second thought, swap with Zoe," Mal said, thinking better of his original plan. Jayne looked as though he meant to object, then beheld the hard look in the captain's eyes and moved to obey, grumbling all the while. Zoe moved to cover the girl, steely eyed and gun unholstered.

"You'd best have a good explanation," Mal told the girl dispassionately, voice loud enough to be heard over the whirring as the ramp closed. "Or you've just signed your own death warrant."

"You won't kill me," the girl replied, as steadily as ever.

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think," Mal replied, before leaving her at Zoe's mercy.

* * *

**A/N:** I just really liked ending it at that line...it just felt so Mal to me. Please review. I'm really getting into this story and it's flowing for me in a way no other story has done before. Moreover, unlike everything else I've ever written (save for tiny one-shot) I actually have the whole (broad version) of the plot already mapped out. The whole thing. So no possibilities for plot bunnies to besiege me and hold the plot hostage because, well, I already have it all. I can't wait to hear your reactions to the plot as it unfolds, because it's fairly twisty and fun. :)

Please review!


	2. Questions to be Answered

Thanks for sticking with the story, if you're still here! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is all Joss Whedon's. And because I'm tired already of typing this, this disclaimer applies to this and all future chapters of this fic.

* * *

"Aaaand we're good," Wash said, leaning back in his jump chair, arms crossed jauntily behind his neck. "Well on our way to Triumph, where no one'd think to look for us."

"No tails?" Mal asked, double checking despite already knowing the answer.

"Nary a one," Wash replied lightly, brushing off Mal's questioning of his professional judgment (which would normally have had him bristling) in favor of questioning Mal himself. "If you don't mind my asking, Captain, what the hell happened back there?" he asked, his tone ending rather less sweetly than it began.

"Don't rightly understand it myself," Mal said, annoyance creeping in under his calm facade. "But we're about to find out." He pivoted and swept down the stairs, Wash belatedly moving to follow him. Mal was on a mission and he wasn't about to stop and wait for his pilot to catch up.

As Mal passed the infirmary, Simon stuck his head out. "If you don't mind my asking, Captain, what happened? Did the Alliance find us?" he asked worriedly.

Boy had a one track mind when it came to threat assessment, though he was right more often than not. "Not exactly," Mal replied tersely. He didn't offer any more information – not that he knew much more himself – nor did he slow his stride any, forcing the younger man to rush to catch up. Wash shot Simon a look of sympathy, but he didn't slow either.

The hold came into view, looking much like Mal had left it. Zoe covered the girl with unmasked suspicion, while Jayne looked at her with unmasked desire. Seeing Jayne's look, Mal assessed the girl again and found her to be quite attractive at second glance. Pretty enough face, at least, with large eyes, dark red cupid bow lips, and silky straight brown hair that pooled down into her lap on top of her delicate, motionless hands.

Yes, he'd have to watch Jayne around the girl. Mal'd planned on assigning him guard duty after this, and his plan hadn't changed, but he'd certainly have to keep a closer eye on Jayne to make sure he wasn't…distracted. Pretty or not, the girl was a threat and needed to be treated as such. The girl in question, for her part, looked just as implacable as before, either not noticing Jayne's leer or doing an impeccable job of ignoring him. She didn't so much as flinch as Mal stopped to stand in front of her, either, although Mal knew he cut an intimidating figure.

"Explaining time. I was all set to make myself some good cashy money," Mal said, with an air of forced patience. "And now I'm out in the middle of no and where with nothing in my pocket, and no goods on my ship, save for one girl who happens to be the cause of my previously listed problems. You can see how that might make a man a bit angry. And when I'm angry, I do things I might regret," Mal said threateningly, hoping to scare a reaction out of her.

"My apologies, Captain," the girl said, not sounding at all apologetic. "But that was the best outcome I could manage that satisfied both our needs. And I assure you, I'll make up for it."

"Sir, if the girl's a threat, we could always just drop her off on Triumph. The settlers would be happy enough to make sure she never left planet, and I'd be happy to be rid of her," Zoe said evenly. Whatever had happened in the hold between the time Mal left it and now had apparently not endeared the girl to Zoe.

"I'm beginning to wonder if we should even wait that long to get rid of her," Mal mused openly. He would never kill anyone who wasn't a threat to himself and his crew, particularly not a young woman, but the girl didn't know that and he was hoping to break her composure a bit. That certainty of hers was damned unsettling. Made him think she had more surprises up her sleeve…which she probably did.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" Wash cried, as always failing to read Mal's true intentions. "I don't know the whole story, but given that everyone's in one piece and she looks all of nineteen, what the girl's done can't be enough to deserve a spacing."

"What did happen, exactly?" Shepherd asked calmly, coming to join the arranged crew and defusing the tension before Mal could put Wash in his place.

"If I had a steak for every time someone asked me that question," Mal muttered to himself, before continuing. "Girl seems to have set the Feds down on us in Persephone. The how and why I am somewhat unclear about. But I'm sure she'd be more than happy to explain the whole thing to us. And it best be a mighty fine explanation."

"It is," the girl agreed. "The how is through a false tip, which will shortly be determined to be erroneous. The why was that you're the only ship to harbor and care for fugitives," here she inclined her head to indicate Simon, "that has shown a repeated history of being able to keep them hidden from the Feds, and towards whose crew I would not pass along a heightened level of threat from the Alliance."

"So you're a fugitive, then?" Mal said, the whole crew – for once – blessedly silent as he proceeded with his make-shift interrogation. "And here I thought you were signing on as crew," he continued sardonically.

"The Hell did a girl like you do to become a fugie?" asked Jayne, coarse and to the point as always.

"Me?" the girl asked rhetorically. "I won a chess tournament."

Mal shook his head, as though trying to clear it of all the extraneous variables threatening to cloud his view of the situation. "Look, let's start with the basics. What makes you not a threat to me and mine?"

"The folk after me are the same folk after River," the girl said, her confident veneer starting to fade, although she slapped it back on quickly. "They have a very particular way they go about doing things. Having two of us on board isn't going to be much more dangerous than just the one."

"Wait – so you were at the Academy, too, then," Simon said, cutting of Mal as he was opening his mouth to point out that he hadn't missed that qualifier. Not much more dangerous, indeed. "How'd you escape?"

Mal thought of interrupting him, to remind the boy that he was the one in charge of this interrogation, thank you very much, but found himself wanting to know the answer too much to contest the thwarting of his will.

"I had help," the girl said shortly, fighting back her first glimmer of true emotion but not revealing anything else.

"And what would make you so valuable to my crew, the way you said earlier?" Mal said, having calmed a great deal during this conversation. Now that he'd established the girl wasn't a (direct) threat to him and his crew, the part of his brain that had been drilled in being chivalrous to needy women was starting to try and speak up, and he was finding it increasingly hard to shove it back down.

"I can predict the future," the girl said, face void of any sign of deception.

"Like, with crystal balls?" Jayne asked confusedly. The girl rolled her eyes, but didn't deign to reply. At least she seemed to have a sense of humor, even though she was obviously 疯了.

"You can't rightly expect a man to believe that," Mal said flatly.

"It's the truth," the girl said. "Give me a week or so, or even a mere day and I can prove it. But in the meanwhile, trust in your gut because I'm sure it knows I'm telling you the truth."

Damned if the girl wasn't right, much to Mal's displeasure. Around them, the crew began to murmer.

"你们都闭嘴！" Mal called out, exerting his authority. The crew fell silent around him, for once, blessedly, having listened to his orders.

"Look," he said, addressing the girl. "I don't know you. And I ain't so certain I believe your story. Hell, I know I don't believe your story. You have until we get to Triumph to convince me otherwise, to prove you're not a threat and can be an asset to this crew. If you convince me, I may let you stay on. But if I'm not convinced by the time we get there, we go with Zoe's plan. And if you step so much as one toe out of line in the meanwhile," he said threateningly, although immediately regretting the metaphor, "I reserve the right to toss you out the airlock."

The crew began to talk amongst themselves again, his words having stirred them up, but Mal didn't care anymore as he strode out of the hold.

"You have three days," Mal called over his shoulder. "Best get started."

"Thank God," the girl said feebly, showing the first sign of weakness since she'd made her way onto the boat earlier in the day. Then she promptly slumped in her chair, unconscious.

* * *

Thanks to CreativeReading and LoneWolfOneill for the reviews, they were greatly appreciated and gave me the kick that I needed to post this latest chapter. :)


	3. Reactions

Disclaimer still applies. Enjoy!

* * *

Normally on the ship, Simon Tam felt like one part errant child, the other part stranger. He was still trying to figure out where he fit in Serenity's dynamic – and still harbored fears of the captain changing his mind about keeping him – so he was always on his toes. It was enough to make even the calmest of people somewhat anxious, and it was enough to keep Simon constantly on edge.

But now, hovering over the mysterious girl, that edge was all but forgotten. There Simon was in his own domain, the infirmary. It was the one place on the ship where others deferred to him, although Simon had yet to decide whether that deferral was due to the fact that his expertise in medicine was unparalleled on the boat, or whether it was that he himself changed in the infirmary.

Whatever the cause, Simon certainly felt the mantle of his role at the moment, which kept his mind on the task of examining the girl as opposed to allowing it to stray into the endless questions and possibilities his mind offered him in light of her appearance.

He frowned and lifted his stethoscope off the girl's chest as Kaylee knocked on the wall.

"Mind if I come in?" she asked, eyes already fixated on the girl's prone body.

"Sure," Simon said distractedly, moving to re-read the summary of the findings of his exam, as though hoping they would divulge more this time than the last. Kaylee entered, brushing past Jayne who was slumped along the wall next to the door. The captain had wanted to take every precaution lest the girl wake up, which had meant putting Jayne on guard duty and binding the girl's arms and legs, despite how unnecessary it seemed. Best not to take chances, the captain had said.

"She gonna be all right?" Kaylee asked, motioning to the girl bound across his examining table.

"Well, that's the odd thing," Simon said, brow furrowing. "According to everything I've found, there's nothing wrong with her – she's the perfect picture of health."

"She don't look healthy," Kaylee said worriedly, chewing her lip.

"Well, her muscles have certainly decayed due to lack of use, but I can't see a reason for her to be unable to use them in the first place. Of course, the tests I have to work with here are certainly primitive, so I could certainly be missing something," Simon said. "There is, however, one discrepancy I've noticed."

"A what?" Jayne asked. "Use English, damn it!"

"What kind of discrepancy?" Kaylee prompted gently, ignoring Jayne and getting the conversation back on track.

"Well," Simon said, finally looking up from his clipboard, "she had vestiges of adrenaline in her system. Too high to be natural."

"What does that mean?" Kaylee asked, beating Jayne to the punch.

"Between that and the puncture mark on her thigh, I suspect it means that she was pumped full of adrenaline before coming here," Simon replied. "It's just speculation, but the effects of the adrenaline wearing off might have caused her to black out."

"Why would she want to do a thing like that?" Kaylee asked.

"I don't know," Simon said slowly. "What's confusing me, though, is if she really did go through the Academy, why isn't she more like River? When she was talking, she just seemed so…" Simon trailed off, grasping for the right word.

"Normal?" Kaylee asked, her voice compassionate.

"Not crazy?" Jayne called from the door.

Simon shook his head. "Whole," he said, softly.

* * *

"The girl's a threat, sir," Zoe said, opening the informal crew meeting. They'd intended to talk just the two of them, but by virtue of their meeting in the cockpit the discussion had inevitably expanded to include Wash. By the time the Shepherd joined them there was no use in even pretending it was a private discussion anymore.

"That she is," Mal said seriously. "But what type of threat and the solution, that I ain't so sure of."

"What do you mean, threat?!" Wash asked, as always first in line to disagree with the captain. "The girl couldn't hurt a fly, even if she wanted to."

"The Alliance is not above using spies and appearances can be deceptive," Zoe said evenly. "This could be a trap."

"Or she could be just who she says she is, and we're threatening to toss an innocent, albeit obviously crazy, girl out the airlock or maroon her!" Wash exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"I'm not so sure that her claim is all that 'crazy'," Shepherd said. "The Alliance was obviously experimenting on River for some reason, even if we don't know it yet. Maybe that's what they were doing - making it so that she could read the future."

"No offense to River, but she's pretty 疯了 herself, so comparing this girl to her makes it sound more like she's crazy, not less," Wash said. "Look, personally, the whole reading the future thing is a load of hooey. But that doesn't change the fact that she's a kid that needs our protection."

"I ain't so sure the girl's not crazy, myself, although I'm more inclined to think she's a liar," Mal said. "But be that as it may, what matters to me right now is that chances are still high she's a threat."

"How will you be able to determine what to do with her?" Shepherd asked, ever the voice of reason.

"Watch. And wait," Mal replied. "Three day's journey to Triumph. Not as much time to interrogate her as I'd like, but it's enough."

"We should attempt to verify as much of her story as we can before then – maybe ask River if she knows her," Shepherd added, only to be met by skeptical looks all around.

"Ain't likely the girl would be able to tell us even if she did," Mal said. "Where'd that girl get to, anyhow?"

* * *

River felt too much. The _tide_ was carrying her away, across its threshold like a bride. **The Academy**, pushed _down_, coming up again like a triumphant _villain_. But _the villain_ never triumphed, there must always be a failure in the system. **Danger**, **danger**! But she would fight,** the other half** would show the way. River would function. She read the pages, _knew_ the story. Knew too many stories. _Closed_ the book, bed time story over. No **mother **and **father** to kiss goodnight. Lights out, dark, everything dark, **Mommy I can't see**! But _light_ has come again. Dream, yearn, wish, want, _hope_ shined bright.

And River smiled.

* * *

Jayne stood, feet planted firmly in front of the cabin door. Ordinarily, this cabin belonged to Simon, but it had been turned into a makeshift brig, an idea the doc hadn't been too keen on. Jayne hoped the girl would smash everything inside, had even told Simon as much. Unfortunately, that damn girl hadn't so much as moved a muscle, even when they were carrying her in here. Mal'd told Jayne he was on guard duty 'til she woke up. At first he'd thought guard duty would be fun, what with him alone with a pretty girl an' all. But two hours later Jayne was starting to wonder if he'd be standing there all night. 肏，he was bored.

"How's the girl doin'?" Kaylee called, coming down the stairs. Immediately Jayne perked up. Maybe she'd keep him company! Kaylee was one of the only crew members that Jayne actually liked. Everyone liked her, but that was easy to understand. Not liking Kaylee was like not liking steak – you'd have to be crazy not to. Gorram it, now Jayne was hungry.

"She ain't so much as twitched this whole time," Jayne groused. "Hey, you got any protein on ya? I'm starved."

"Can't say as I do," Kaylee said regretfully, almost drooping a little. She perked up as an idea occurred to her. "But I can go to the kitchen and whip you up somethin'!"

This, Jayne thought fondly, was why it was impossible not to like Kaylee. "Would ya? Mal stuck me on guard duty."

She didn't reply, eyes glued to the door behind him. "She's awake!" Kaylee chirped excitedly.

"Well I'll be damned," Jayne said, wondering just how long the girl'd been up. "Go tell Mal, maybe now he'll let me off."

"Get everyone," a quiet voice came from the cabin. Jayne jumped in surprise.

"他妈的混蛋," he cursed fluently in an attempt to cover up his jumpiness as he wondered just how long the girl'd been listening. "What'd you have to go and be all creepifying for?" he called into the cabin.

"Sorry," she said softly. "But I've got a story to tell and I may as well get it over with." Jayne might have thought he was imagining the girl's voice, it was so quiet, but, no, Kaylee was running off to get everyone now, so she'd heard it, too. As Kaylee raced off, Jayne belatedly remembered something.

"Hey!" he hollered after Kaylee. "Don't forget about my protein!"

* * *

Inara wasn't so sure about this whole situation. She'd been about to leave to meet with a client when as fast as she had touched down Serenity was taking off again. Inara had been forced to spend the whole morning apologizing to clients ("My humblest apologies for the cancellation. I can only hope you'll still wish to meet with me when I next arrive. No, no the loss is mine at not being able to meet such an illustrious gentleman as you," she'd said, delivering that last line with as straight a face as she could.).

Worse yet, she'd had to contact the Guild and alert them to the change. She hated speaking with any Guild representatives, hated it because beneath all the calm demeanor and soothing words, the message was still there. 'Why did you leave Sihnon? Come back to us and leave those rough moons behind,' the worried eyes always said. Inara knew the answer to that question would leave the eyes even more worried, so she never replied.

And 他妈的, Mal had given them yet another excuse to ask her that, lifting off without even giving her warning. To calm herself, she had spent the remainder of the day bathing, dressing, and making tea. She would have to have a meeting with him to remind him that theirs was a business arrangement that couldn't be overruled so easily by whatever had caused him to take off without so much as a 请.

And for any meeting with Mal, Inara wanted to look her best. Not because she was attracted to him, of course, she reassured herself. It was because controlling the environment and one's appearance was a Companion's greatest weapon. Her dress may only seem a garment to some, but to Inara it was equivalent to battle armor, which was why she'd chosen it. (And because it was in Mal's favorite color, Inara's mind traitorously suggested, but she shoved that thought down.)

Her door slid open. "Mal!" she gasped, collecting herself. "Would it kill you to knock?!" Her plans to calmly discuss their business arrangement were shattered before they'd even begun.

"I'll explain on the way," Mal said tersely, not even glancing at the outfit she'd so carefully arranged. (Why wouldn't he look? Any other man would.) "We're headed down to the cabins, I think Her Highness has finally deigned to talk to us."

"Her Highness?" Inara asked, thrown off-balance.

"As I said, I'll explain on the way," Mal replied. Inara climbed to her feet, slipping on a shawl and slippers with speed and grace as only a Companion could. She turned to look at him, composing her face.

"Oh, and, uh, sorry about earlier," Mal said, rubbing the back of his neck. And with that, Inara's anger flushed away as though it was never there. She could never stay angry with him for long.

* * *

A/N: So there it is, chapter 3, just a glimpse into the reactions of pretty much all the crew members regarding this turn of events. I had fun writing this, especially River. To write her, I just let my ADD mind run amok which meant it jumped all over the place making connections that probably wouldn't seem related to an outside mind...which works because that's how River talks. We won't be hearing too much from her for a while, though - I seem to be pulled more towards writing Mal's POV because a) it's fun and b) of everyone on the ship, his reactions to things are the most important and he makes sense in more situations.

It was also surprisingly fun writing Inara. I've never gotten in her head before and I found it's a much more interesting place than I thought. And Simon, who's another character I seem to be gravitating towards. Basically, I just like writing everyone, it's been really fun.

As I predicted, the chapters are starting to get longer. Impressively, I have another long chapter already written out. Yes, that's right, you'll finally get to hear the girl's whole story next chapter!

Even cooler from a writer's point of view, I have the whole plot mapped out not. And not to brag or anything, but it's really cool with multiple layers and twists and general excitement and awesomeness. It makes me SUPER happy!

Anyways, as always please keep reading and reviewing! :)


	4. Story Time

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns this.

* * *

Mal stood in the common area, waiting for the girl to speak. Around him, the crew sat or stood, each according to their nature. The wary ones, like Mal himself, Zoe, and, oddly enough, the Shepherd and Inara, stood. The rest of the crew had all just plopped themselves into chairs or on the floor ringing the couch, as though this was story time in primary school. Mal was thankful that at least some of his crew realized the girl was a threat, her appearance to the contrary, but he wished the rest would show more caution. Swearing to himself, he realized he'd have a battle on his hands if he decided to kick the girl off.

The girl herself was more lying on the couch than sitting on it. She was supported all around by more pillows than Mal had thought the ship possessed, but her head, the only part of her not propped up, listed to the side, as if what little effort required to keep it up in the air was too much for her. It might well be, from the looks of her. He hadn't gotten a good look at her before, but now Mal realized the girl was wan, skin almost translucent for lack of sunlight, and even thinner than she'd first appeared. It was a shocking contrast with the girl who'd stared him down in the hold, and Mal found himself wishing that girl was back challenging him once more, in place of the broken girl who lay in front of him now.

Simon had told her about the adrenaline in her system, and Mal had immediately identified it as what had given the girl her 'strength', if you could even call it that, from before. He had used the stuff on many a soldier to help keep them alive. Hell, Mal himself had been dosed with it before the war turned and supplies ran out. But he never suspected the girl would be using it just to keep herself upright.

"Sorry about all this," the girl said, her voice as soft as a breeze. Apparently her weakness wasn't confined to just her body. "I just figured, well, we might as well get started. There are a lot of things I have to tell you, and I'm sure you all have a lot of questions as well."

"That we do," Mal said, voice commanding, but he restrained himself from saying more in favor of letting the girl continue.

"I really don't know where to start," the girl said, eyes looking around at everyone gathered there. "What do you want to know?"

"Why don't we start with your name?" the Sheperd suggested kindly, as Mal realized, much to his surprise, that he didn't even know what the girl was called yet.

"Esther," the girl said quietly. "I don't have a last name. Folk back home just called me Sarah's daughter."

"And where is home?" Kaylee asked, encouraging the girl to open up.

"Hera," Esther said, even more quietly than before if that was possible. Mal knew the reason. Besides Shadow (Mal put that thought quickly out of his head) Hera was the most devastated by the war, given its strategic position. Now the only thing the planet was good for was the graves of the dead. (The graves of men he'd failed to save, his mind whispered.)

"The Alliance found me there," the girl continued unprompted, her voice growing ever so slightly stronger. "I lived in a small township, if you could even call it that, out in the middle of no and where. But I was a bright girl. I started playing chess when I was four and I could always predict the winning strategy, so I never lost a game. Made a lot of money for Mama that way off of folk who'd bet on games, 'least til they got wise. A year later the supply of money in our area ran dry, so Mama started taking me to a larger city, Eveston, most every week.

It was a day long trip, but Mama said it was worth it. Folk there had more money to bet, you see. Eventually someone there suggested she enter me into a chess tournament. There was a big prize for the winner, so of course she did. With no man to put bread on the table, she needed money to feed all my brothers and sisters. She said that prize would feed us for a year, told me I had to win it. I did. I've spent my whole life regretting it," Esther said bitterly. No one had dared to interrupt her.

"The Alliance found you," Simon supplied.

"Yes. They came to the house, told my Mama they were going to take me away to some fancy academy. They needn't have bothered lying to her. One less mouth to feed? She was already happy with that prospect, and she bargained them into giving her plenty of cash, to compensate the family for the loss of my income. Then she let them take me, without so much as a goodbye or a backward glance. I was six," Esther said softly. The crew sat in hushed silence around her, knowing what would happen next.

"The academy wasn't so bad at first," Esther continued. "I really was taking classes, and there were other children with me, too. I made friends with some of them and those first few weeks were some of the happiest of my life. The only difficult part was the tests we'd take. We'd have to take what we learned about in class, say, how the situation was on Higgins' Moon or something like that, and then predict how it'd turn out. The scenarios got harder each week, but they weren't so bad for me. But then I started noticing, see, how after every test we had there'd be at least one less student, sometimes two. The 'teachers' said they'd gone home, and I wanted to believe them," she said, the yearning still evident in her voice so many years later.

"But then one of my friends disappeared," Esther continued, her voice flat. "We'd promised that no matter what happened, if one of us went home we'd write the other. She meant her promise, too. Only, I didn't get a single letter from her. A mind that was so good at predicting things, I figured out what was happening. Looking back, I realize the signs were there all along, but I just hadn't wanted to believe they could be true. My best friend disappearing was just the last straw. I confronted the teachers, in front of everyone. And you know what they did? They _congratulated me_ for figuring it out," she choked, dark fury and grief evident in her words.

"And then they killed all the other children," Esther said, her voice growing quiet. "Not in front of me, of course, but the next day they were all gone and I knew what had happened. I'd passed the last test, and they didn't care about those that failed."

The crew sat, in horror. They'd known the Alliance was bad, had thought what happened to River was terrible. But this? This was a whole new degree of horrifying. Mal noticed, surveying the crew's reaction, that every one of them seemed moved by her story. Simon looked as angry as he'd ever seen the boy. Kaylee was crying softly. Even Jayne seemed upset, having taken to rather savagely playing with his pocket knife. Hell, Mal himself could feel his blood boiling. Fighting a war with adults was one thing. Messing with River, that was another. Killing off children because they flunked some kinda test? Mal hadn't thought his hatred of the Alliance could grow any more, but it turns out it could.

"Soon, though, I realized the children they'd killed were the lucky ones," Esther revealed. Now that she'd started talking, she seemed unable to stop. "After a week of solitary confinement, one day they came to my room. They took me, and they operated on me, no anesthesia. Put something like a data rod in my brain. It was my fifth birthday, and the doctor joked and said it was a present, that it'd help me make better predictions. Told me I should thank him. I didn't," she said flatly.

"After the rod was in they used it to cram information into me, important people, history, events," Esther continued. "If you asked me now, I could tell you the complete life story of every major player and the details of every event on all the planets and moons, going back to when they were first founded. Information like that is too much to fit in a normal brain, which is why they needed the rod. It worked, too. With it, I could predict most any event they wanted."

"That how you escaped?" Zoe asked in spite of herself. "Predicted a way out?"

"No, not really," Esther said, much to Mal's surprise. "Like I said before, I had to have help. See, they can't have their weapons escaping. With River, they needed her body whole, so they altered her brain," she said, looking apologetically at the dark shadow behind the door where Mal hadn't realized River was standing. He'd have to watch that girl more closely.

"With me, they needed my mind whole, so they crippled my body," Esther went on to say. "Not permanently, mind you. The Alliance doesn't like to do anything they can't undo. They bound my arms and legs together so my muscles would degrade. And they drugged me, in my food, to make me weak. And if that wasn't enough to keep me from escaping, they added on a special something to the rod. A pain switch, designed to put me in agony at the touch of a button. They liked using it, too," she said, shuddering at memories (long?) past. "I couldn't so much as twitch a finger, much less escape."

"Who helped you get out, then?" Simon asked, obviously wondering if it was the same people who had helped River escape.

"One of the jailors seemed to take pity on me more than the others. Over the years, we grew closer and closer. We couldn't really talk, of course. I could only speak for short stretches of time, I was so weak, and he couldn't say much because our communication was monitored. Still, we talked as much as we could, and let the eyes do the rest of the talking. And one day after all those years, he decided to set me free. He'd…" here the girl trailed off, trapped in memories too painful to think of.

Esther collected herself and tried again. "He'd heard me screaming," she said finally. "He knew that I hated screaming, hated allowing them to see my weakness, see how they could hurt me. I went years without screaming, even when they used the pain switch. But this…this was different. For the first time, I had openly defied my minders, lied to them when they asked me to predict something. They were furious. I don't know how long they left the switch on, but it felt like hours. I thought I'd go crazy from the pain," she said, echoes of horror still in her eyes.

"Most of them enjoyed hearing me scream, but it infuriated him," Esther continued. "He told me later that he'd pleaded with them to turn it off, said they'd punished me enough, but they wouldn't. So when they left, he turned it off himself. I don't remember how we got out – as soon as he turned off the switch I passed out – but when I woke up, it was just the two of us on a small ship."

"Where is he now?" Jayne asked. Mal cursed the man's stupidity; he already knew the answer wouldn't be pleasant.

"He's gone," Esther said, surprising Mal who would have bet money she was going to say the man was dead. "He got me situated on Persephone and then he fled. I tried to convince him it was safer to stay, that he should come with me, but he wouldn't listen. The odds of his survival…are not good," she said, her voice bleak.

The only person who'd ever shown her a kindness and he abandoned her for what was sounding like an almost certain death? Mal was surprised the girl was dealing with that as well as she was. Then again, the girl's composure made her hard to read.

"How did you find our ship?" Mal asked, mind set, as always, on protecting his crew. If there were any vulnerabilities that could leave them open to being caught by the Alliance, he needed to know.

"That was the reason they were torturing me, actually," Esther revealed. "They wanted me to predict where River was. I couldn't let them harm her, though, so I lied. Sent them running off to Shadow, of all places, to look for you. They believed it because they thought the ability to lie had been beaten out of me years ago, but eventually they found I'd led them astray. They were…angry," Esther said, shuddering a little, eyes again lost in memories of the past.

Now Mal felt like an even bigger ass than he already had. Girl'd been hurt protecting them, and here he had her bound and was threatening to throw her to the wolves. Mal had to fight with himself not to promise to protect her right then and there. Compassion was well enough, but it could get his crew killed if it turned out the girl was lying, Mal reminded himself. The thought sobered him, but only just.

"I had Marcus – that was his name – take me to your most likely location and I waited for you to arrive," the girl continued. "You were already harboring two fugitives; odds were high you'd be willing to take more."

"We haven't decided on that yet," Zoe said smoothly, as the crew turned to look at her. Most of their eyes were shocked that she could say something so cold-hearted; Mal's were warm with appreciation for her sticking with him. There was a reason Zoe was his right hand woman. "Captain asked you before, and I'll ask you again; are you a threat to us?"

"No more than River," Esther said, her head wobbling in what Mal interpreted as an attempt to shake it no. The girl was so strong a personality, it was easy to forget her physical weakness. "The Alliance has to be subtle about its experiments – most of the Alliance members who aren't in the know would rebel to hear about it, let alone the common folk who aren't part of the Alliance. Now instead of having three men after you, at the worst you may have five. And you have me to help you evade them."

"Later you'll tell us more about those men," Mal said, leaving no room for question. "I don't like the idea of one man after us, much less five. For now, tell me this; will we be safe on Triumph?"

"You should be," Esther said. "As safe as anywhere else, that is." Mal would have to have content himself with that answer until he could question the girl more later.

"So? Can I stay?" Esther asked. "You said I had till Triumph, but I figure you've made up your mind by now."

"You're the supposed fortune teller. You tell me," Mal replied. He still wasn't sure if he bought into her claims, but they were easy enough to test later and what he'd seen of River had left him open to the possibility.

"I'm not so good at predicting what just one person will do – groups of people are easier to figure out, whole planets simpler still. But still…from what I know of you, I think you'll let me stay," Esther ventured, her voice hopeful, but tired.

"Well, we'll find out on Triumph if you predicted right," Mal said evasively. "Meeting's over," he said, turning to address the crew. "Leave the girl be for a while." Pillows or no, the girl was about to topple over from what effort it had required to tell her story. He knew when someone had been pushed to their limit, and the girl had reached hers.

"Wait," Simon said, his brain having digested Esther's story. "You said they don't like doing anything they can't undo. Does that mean River's damage can be undone?" he asked, breath held in hope.

"I don't know about all the way," Esther said, her voice getting quiet and weak once more, her energy spent. "At least somewhat. But is that what River wants?" she asked, as Simon leaned in to hear her soft voice.

"Of course she does," Simon said, the thought never having occurred to him. "Right, River?" he asked, turning to get her opinion. "River?" Simon called. The shadow where River had once concealed herself was empty, the girl gone as quietly as she came.

"We'll get you back to your room and you can rest for the night," Mal told the girl, his voice still firm but gentler, softened by the story he'd just heard. "We can talk more in the morning."

"Most of us are turning in for the night anyways," Kaylee said with a smile.

"Jayne will help you back to your room," Mal said, in a tone that brokered no room for disagreement.

"Aw, man…" Jayne grumbled. But Mal noted that his hands were surprisingly gentle as he lifted the girl. He cradled her in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder, limp alabaster arms a sharp contrast against Jayne's strong, tanned ones.

"My thanks," Esther said softly. Her voice was still composed, as though she weren't being carried bridal-style by a mercenary, but her face betrayed her exhaustion. The girl's eyelids were drooping and she looked like she might drop off asleep at any moment, despite her best efforts to the contrary.

Jayne must have noticed the odd look Mal was giving to him, because he said, gruffly, "I had a mess of little brothers and sisters at home."

"That must have been a sight to see," said Mal, imagining Jayne caring for his siblings. Watching Jayne with the girl, it was surprisingly easy to envision. Now there was a disturbing thought.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, I know I promised Saturday updates, but, well...I didn't realize yesterday was Saturday. I was working all day, so it felt like just another weekday. So sorry!

I hope you liked the chapter. My guess is you will have because we FINALLY got some background on Esther (not to mention learned her name!). More information will be forthcoming in the next chapter. I'm really excited about where this fic is going, you guys! PLEASE review!


	5. Simon's Hope

Disclaimer still applies.

* * *

When Simon awoke the next morning, it was to a sense of disorientation as he rolled over and almost found himself on the floor. Belatedly Simon remembered that his bunk had been given to the girl, Esther, and he had summarily been relegated to sleeping on the couch. He didn't mind - the girl certainly needed the bed more than he did - but the crick in his neck sure made him wish Serenity had just one more bunk.

Rising, Simon straightened out his rumpled clothing from the day before (since he'd been sleeping out in the open, he hadn't thought his night clothes appropriate) and softly padded over to check on River. Through the crack in the door, he could see she was still asleep.

Watching River sleep was always bittersweet for Simon. On the one hand, she looked so peaceful when she slept, and Simon didn't have to try hard to imagine that when she woke up she'd be the sister who'd been taken from him that fateful day she left for the Academy. Simon had this daydream frequently, where the two of them would go off, and Simon could go back to his job as a doctor and River would go do whatever it is that prodigies do, and mother and father would be waiting to welcome him – them, he meant them – with open arms. And then River stirred and Simon was reminded that none of that was possible now.

He didn't regret saving her, could never regret that despite everything he'd given up in doing so. But sometimes Simon couldn't help but wish River hadn't been such a prodigy, or that she had at least not pushed so hard to go to The Academy. And then he'd have a rush of shame at the thought and force it down until it reared its head again. (_Why, oh why, did she have to go to the Academy?_)

Shaking his head, in an attempt to clear his head of the regrets that haunted him, Simon softly left River's bunk behind and went to make his way back to the couch to clean up his makeshift bed when he found his feet leading him to look in on Esther instead. Much to his surprise, the door was unguarded and unlocked.

Simon debated whether or not he should open the door, but finally justified it to himself, reasoning that the girl had obvious medical problems and as a doctor, it was his responsibility to visit her regularly and assess her health. Inwardly, though, he knew the real reason he was there. To him, Esther represented the possibility for answers where he'd never hoped for them, the chance to fix River (she'd said it could be done, hadn't she?), the opportunity to understand and move past what happened. And that was a tantalizing opportunity, which is why Simon was drawn to Esther's room like a moth to a light.

Soundlessly, thanks to many weeks of practice, he slid the door open – and was surprised to see cool brown (awake!) eyes meet his own. Simon didn't know whether to feel embarrassed to have been caught checking on her, or hopeful because since she was awake perhaps she'd answer some questions. Unable to decide, he settled for breaking the silence instead.

"Just up early, or couldn't sleep?" he asked quietly, so as not to wake River.

"I'm an early riser," Esther said softly. "You?"

"Same," Simon lied. Well, it was half true, anyways, and no need to make her feel guilty for taking his bed.

The two fell into an awkward silence once more. This time the girl was the one to break it.

"I'm sure you have questions," Esther ventured, correctly predicting – was that a prediction or just common sense? Simon wondered – what was on his mind.

"Oh, you don't even know how many questions I have," Simon breathed, taking that as his cue to enter (his? her? the?) room. "天啊, where do I start?"

"I can't help you there," Esther said, smiling slightly.

Simon was intensely grateful, now, that he'd come to Esther's room. So many questions – were they safe from the Alliance here, did she know River, how could he help River – but none of those were the words that came out. "What can you tell me about River?" Simon asked, settling for the most open ended of his questions, his voice tight with hope.

"There I really can't help you much," she replied, kindness filling her voice in an attempt to soften the rejection. "A lot of this is River's story to tell, not mine."

"Oh," Simon said, flustered. "You're right, I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"Besides, I don't know much," Esther said. "I don't know what her experience was like, but me, I was kept segregated from everyone else. I was meant only to interact with Alliance personnel and she…well, again, that's for her to tell you. What I can tell you," she said, seeking to ease the rejection with more information, "is that she cannot predict the future. But you probably already know that…"

"What did they do her?" Simon asked. "Can you tell me that? Do you even know that? You said it could be undone – how?" he asked, questions falling out of him rapid fire now.

"They…well, let's just say I wasn't the only one they did surgery on," Esther said, trying to break the news as lightly as possible, but failing.

"What did they do?" Simon asked tightly, dreading the answer.

"They operated on her brain," Esther said quickly, as though seeking to ease the pain of hearing the news by getting it over with as fast as possible. But learning this information was not like ripping off a plaster; if anything, Simon felt more shocked by the rapidity of the knowledge hitting him. He would deny her words, he wanted so badly for them to be untrue, but with that knowledge was so consistent with River's behavior. His dreams of seeing River whole again seemed to wash away in one fell swoop, as though they were never there, his hope gone with them.

"I don't know what they did, exactly, but I know they did many surgeries on her," Esther said, her voice emerging to fill the silence that engulfed the room.

"哎呀!" Simon muttered, horrified. "Why would they do such a thing – what purpose would that serve?!"

"They're the Alliance. They've done much worse for much less," Esther said flatly. "I would know," she added almost silently at the end.

"这些王八蛋，他们都该死！"Simon cried, uncharacteristically angry. "天啊, that explains so much!"

Esther remained silent for a beat, listening to Simon's ragged breaths as he brought himself back under control. "Wait – you said it could be undone. How?" Simon asked, his voice suddenly hopeful.

"I said, the Alliance doesn't like to do anything they can't undo. And from my stored knowledge, I know they have experimental materials that could theoretically allow them to repair brain damage. But again, I ask – would she want that?"

"Yes, of course!" Simon said emphatically. "Why do you keep asking that?" There was a possibility of curing River, something he wanted more than anything in the world – and River would, too, of course – that could change their lives for the better. He didn't understand why Esther kept asking him whether or not River would want it – couldn't she see how miserable River was?

"All I'm saying is, this should be her decision. Don't get too excited either way, though," she cautioned, warningly. "The only such machine I have record of is located in the Academy, and as I said, even that is experimental."

"Oh," Simon said heavily, feeling the hope drain out of him at this news. Not only was the machine at the Academy, which he doubted he could infiltrate a second time (or, rather, he knew he could get in, but he rather doubted he could get out), but it might not even work? That was beginning to sound like a fool's errand, just a tantalizing dream. How cruel, to have hope, then have it destroyed, then be given hope again and then have it ripped away so quickly.

"I'm sorry," Esther said gently.

"Don't be," Simon replied, waving off her concerns as he suppressed his own emotions. "Without you, I never would have known any of this. It's just…hard." To think that he could cure River and then to have those hopes dashed upon the rocks? Hard didn't even come close to describing how difficult that feeling was.

"Regardless, my sympathies. I wish there was some way I could help," Esther said comfortingly.

"Can you turn back time?" Simon said harshly, the emotion taunt in his voice. Before Esther could respond, he sighed, letting the anger flow out of him and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so harsh. I'm just…she was only a kid."

Esther remained silent, but understanding and compassion radiated from her nonetheless. Belatedly Simon realized that she had been even younger when she had been taken. How had she coped? Did she have a brother like him out there somewhere hunting for her?

"Is there at least some way to help River?" Simon asked more calmly. If he could not cure her, he would make it his mission to help at least treat her. The idea of his 妹妹 remaining the way she was for her lifetime was not acceptable.

"You'd need to have more specifics on what was done to her," Esther said. "The only reason I know that she was operated on in the first place is because they thought the information pertinent to finding her. But I don't know exactly what was done to her."

More specifics? If that was what was needed, that was what Simon would find. He would go to the ends of the universe to help River, and Esther had just pointed the way. With a new goal, Simon felt a new sense of purpose, hope reclaimed once more. It was like a blind man being given back his vision and Simon felt like he could see with clarity once more – including the girl on the bed in front of him.

"Oh, 天啊, I'm so sorry, I didn't think," Simon said, horrified at his lack of manners. He had been so intent on getting answers for River that it was as though he was just seeing for the first time the contents of the room he'd been in for the last ten minutes. Now that his questions were answered, he was actually able to register his environment and realized the girl in front of him had been lying prone on the bed the whole time, craning her neck in an effort to look up at him.

"I'm used to it," Esther said, with a self-deprecating smile, obviously having realized he was referring o her position. "It would be nice, though, to get in my chair and go wash up? There's a board to rest my head on and straps for my legs in my things – would you mind attaching them to the chair for me?" she asked questioningly.

"Of course!" Simon said, flustered that he hadn't thought to bring it to her in the first place. While the hospital had, of course, had patients in wheelchairs, he didn't have much experience with those that were not anesthetized. Simon rushed outside to get Esther's wheelchair. Wheeling it back into the room, he opened up the satchel attached to the back and found only a wooden board and long strips of cloth inside.

"Is this what you were referring to?" Simon asked, raising the items to show for her approval.

"Yes," Esther said, looking rather relieved to see her chair. "Just slide the board into the back of the chair and then help me onto it, if you don't mind. The straps can wait until I'm seated."

Looking again at the chair, Simon noticed a pocket sloppily hand stitched onto the back. Simon inserted the thinner end of the board in the pocket experimentally, and was happy to find the stitching held. About a foot of the wood now stuck out jauntily above the rest of the chair. Hesitantly, Simon slid his arms under Esther, one behind her neck, and the other under her knees, and then cautiously – as though he was afraid to break her, which Simon wasn't entirely certain he didn't fear – raising her off the bed and gently depositing her in the chair, her head resting against the board.

"Okay, now the straps," Esther said. Simon bent down and lifted the hem of her long skirt slightly, then nervously looped the cloth around her thin legs. "Don't worry, you won't hurt me," Esther added reassuringly, having noticed how gingerly Simon was tying the knots.

Simon finished with the straps and then remained crouched on the floor in front of her, his mind lost in thought and his physician training taking over. Now that he was focusing on her body as opposed to her blood readings, Simon took note that Esther's legs had looked like mere bones. Only the slightest evidence that muscle had once cloaked them was present, and even that was debatable. Based on the girl's story, which indicated loss of functional weight-bearing and mobility, it was likely that her body also bore deterioration in weight-bearing skeletal sites. She may not have had any spinal trauma, but whether she would ever walk again was questionable, to say the least.

Mind caught up in the academic matter at hand, Simon didn't realize Esther had said anything until he looked up and noticed her eyes locked squarely on his own.

"So sorry!" Simon exclaimed, flustered. "My apologies, I was…lost in thought."

"Apology accepted – I'm a very thought provoking person," Esther said good naturedly, with a small grin. After how serious she'd seemed yesterday, Simon was surprised to see she still had a sense of humor. "So, where are these wash rooms I've heard so much about?"

"In here," Simon said, gesturing to the small stall close by. About to move to push her inside, he paused, flummoxed. What was the etiquette here? His training did not extend to the appropriate protocol to follow when interacting with someone in a wheelchair. Should he attempt to predict her needs before she asked? Or should he wait until she specifically requested something? Moreover, Simon realized with growing discomfort, he was pushing her to the bathroom, which he knew she wouldn't be able to navigate herself. Would she expect him to assist her, even in there? He blushed, embarrassed by the very thought. Perhaps he could suggest that Kaylee help instead?

"If you wouldn't mind just pushing me in, I can take it from there," Esther said with a smile. "Zero grav equipment and all." If Simon hadn't known her abilities were limited to predicting large scale events, he would have sworn she'd read his mind, her words so well addressed his concerns.

Then again, with her abilities…maybe she did? Could she predict a person's thoughts? Frantically, Simon scanned his thoughts for anything untoward and was relieved to find nothing of the sort.

"…Esther?" he ventured hesitantly, trying to simultaneously sound nonchalant and keep a good reign on his thoughts. "Just how good are your predictions, exactly?"

"It depends on the situation and the number and accuracy of data points I have to work with, among other things. My range is anywhere from 59.7% accurate to 96.4% accurate," she replied automatically, as though reciting a long-memorized statistic.

"Oh, wow," Simon said, taken aback by her unexpected response. "I thought…when you said you predicted the future, I thought you predicted it perfectly."

"No, my brain is more like…like a computer," Esther said, evidently realizing that Simon, having come from the Core – did she know that about him? – would understand the reference. "I take data and I calculate what the most likely outcomes are given that data. It's not perfect, but it does help predict what the future holds with a degree of certainty. What makes me better than a computer, and the reason the Alliance wanted me so much, is that computers can't feel, can't understand human wants, emotions, and irrationalities. I can. That made me a far more accurate…_tool_," she said, pausing on the unwanted word, "to the Alliance. Why did you ask?"

"No, I meant, how specific of a situation can you predict?" he asked, clarifying. "For instance…could you predict what someone's thinking?" Simon asked cautiously.

"Well, yes," Esther said, frowning as though wondering why he would even think to ask that question. "But so can you. The difference between the two of us is how likely we are to be accurate, and even that depends. For instance, if you were to ask me what would happen if you – hit the captain, say – " Here Simon flinched at the insanity of even thinking about that, his mind calling up instead memories of the captain hitting him when Simon first came aboard.

" – you're far more likely to have an accurate answer to that than I am," Esther continued. "Because you know the captain's personality better than I do. You've seen him interact in more situations than I have and you have more data. And that's where my strength lies. Sure, I have a natural talent for predicting situations, but without the data I have stored, I'd only be an extraordinary strategist, like I was back when I was winning chess games. My prediction abilities would be the same, but I wouldn't be able to handle nearly so much data. But with the rod and the data I have stored now, the 'verse is my chess board." Esther concluded, eyes growing dark.

Simon practically shivered. On the one hand, there were so many amazing possibilities. With her abilities, Esther could help him and River get off the ship, find a safe place to hide and settle down. (_Does such a place even exist? _his mind suggested treacherously. _If there were other options, Esther wouldn't be here._) On the other hand, Esther had so much potential as to be dangerous. The captain had been right to think her a threat – the girl could be playing them all into an Alliance trap right now, predicting all the right moves and ways to outsmart them. Yes, her abilities could be tested to see if she was telling the truth about them, but all they had to trust her on her stated goals (_had she even stated any?_), that she was on their side and not the Alliance's, was her word. And as of that moment, Simon was feeling pretty uncomfortable with that situation.

"Sorry if I scared you," Esther said, correctly reading his face (_or predicting his reaction?_). "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not terribly good when it comes to predicting small-scale events, like the decision a single person is going to come to or what a single person's thinking –" here Simon breathed a sigh of relief, "– particularly if I don't have any context. That was the 59.7% accurate side I mentioned. But if you want me to predict what's going to happen on a large scale, like, for example, which side was going to win the war for unification?" she asked rhetorically. "That's when we get into numbers as high as 96.4% accuracy."

Yes, Simon thought, the girl was definitely a threat.

* * *

So is Esther a mole? I'm not going to tell you - you're just going to have to wait and find out! :D This is not going to be an easy to predict story, either, so you can guess, but who knows if you'll be right... :P

This chapter we got to see more into Simon's point of view. What did you guys think? There's some definite foreshadowing here which was fun to write. :D

The main characters in this story seem to be changing significantly from what I'd predicted. Simon, Mal, OC, and perhaps Jayne and River later on seem to be emerging as the main characters in the plot/POVs. There may be a Jayne subplot, but I'm not fully decided on that yet. So I'm going to change the main characters listed for the story - it's going to be strange because I'm sure people will think I'm pairing Simon and Mal romantically, lol. (Which is fine, btw, but this fic is going to stay pretty canon, so far as I can manage it - barring, of course, the inclusion of Esther which is throws the plot all to AU world.) Know now, this is not going to be a particularly romantic story. There will be romance, of course, but the focus is going to be on the plot, which is going to start small and be relatively similar to the TV show and then spiral to extend to the whole star system...kind of like the movie did, only, of course, with a dramatically altered plot.

I'm sure you've noticed, we have yet to delve into Esther's own POV. That's because I want a lot of the mystery about her to remain. But never fear, you will get to see into her POV...eventually. :)

Next chapter may be a bit later, unfortunately. It will still update on a Saturday, but I don't know when and it probably won't be this coming Saturday. My classes are really picking up and I'm falling behind on classwork, so I really can't justify writing when my grades are at stake. Plus, as I predicted, the chapters are growing longer which means they take longer to write. But never fear! I LOVE this story and should keep updating pretty regularly. :)

[Edited 4/6/14 to add: Yeah, guys, I'm definitely not updating weekly anymore. I think I'll be posting new chapters once a month, still on a Saturday to make it easier to check for. The combined facts that the chapters are getting longer and my time is getting shorter kind of necessitates this longer period between updates. I'm aiming to give you guys high quality as opposed to high quantity - there are plenty of fics that are the latter here on FF, but not so many of the former - but that takes time. My apologies for the delay, though. I assure you, I have been writing and am continuing with this story. Next chapter is moving in a different direction than I thought, so instead of moving straight into the Estherified version of one of the episodes (this fic definitely goes along with the previously established episodes, just differently because of the addition of Esther and in a different order, skipping several, to line up with how I think events would occur given her presence) we'll be doing some more background on the ship and setting things up for the movement into our episode. Anyone want to guess which episode it is? Remember, I'm not going in order.

Also, I actively go back and edit my previously posted chapters as well, generally for small typos and lines I think could be written better, but sometimes for larger things as well, like making the crew's reaction to Esther's claim she could read minds more realistic or when I didn't want Esther to have revealed quite as much about River. So know that this is a living document and while nothing huge is subject to change, the details definitely are. The positive of this is that I'm one of those authors that if you see something that could be better in the fic, whether it be a typo or just something awkwardly written, and tell me about it, so long as I agree with you I really will change it. I guess what I'm saying is, your words matter.]

Please review, people. It's really awkward right now, actually, my terribly written fanfiction from back when I was really young (I think it was my first story ever and I had a juvenile sense of humor so the main plot point was that Hermione and Draco got turned into frogs and needed true love's kiss to save them. *cringes*) actually has more reviews than this one, despite fewer words, the same number of chapters (now that I've published this chapter, it actually has less), and of course way lower quality. I would hope this fic at least surpasses that one (for which I would need 22 reviews, in case you were wondering).

Thanks for reading! And like I said, please leave a review! :)


	6. Revelations

Disclaimer: All this is the property of the wonderful Joss Whedon, not me!

* * *

Kaylee was cheerful. Simon had smiled at her at lunch, she'd had a lovely girl chat with Inara, and, most importantly, there was someone new on the boat! Kaylee loved meeting new folk. They all had such interesting lives and stories to tell. Esther more than most...although not in a good way. Kaylee felt her smile dim at the thought. What a sweet girl, providing for her family when she was so young, not to mention trying to protect the other children. To know those 大魔头 had gone and done such terrible things to her; well, Kaylee had never hated anyone before, so she couldn't tell for sure, but she was pretty certain that was what she was feeling now.

But anger wouldn't help the girl. A good meal and a friend, though, now those just might. Which was why Kaylee was walking over to the couch the girl was lying on now with a plate piled high with protein she'd prepared herself. Esther'd slept all the way through lunch, poor thing was so tired. Kaylee had seen her sleeping so peacefully and hadn't had it in her to wake her. But now it was three hours after they'd all eaten their midday meal, and from the sounds of what Simon said she hadn't eaten breakfast either, and Kaylee's concern for the girl's health was overriding her reservations about waking her.

Kaylee sat the plate down on the table and smiled, seeing Esther was still lying down fast asleep. The girl hadn't so much as budged an inch from where Kaylee'd last seen her...although, come to think of it, she probably couldn't move much even if she tried.

"Esther," Kaylee said in a cheery, sing-song voice. "Esther, time to wake up! I brought you some protein!"

The girl didn't rouse; poor thing must not have slept well last night. Undeterred, Kaylee took Esther's shoulder gently in her hand.

"Esther," she said louder, shaking the girl's shoulder lightly. "起来吧!" Still no response.

"Esther?" Kaylee said, shaking her with both hands in earnest now. "Esther!" she cried, the distress evident in her voice. Oh God, what if she'd died?! Girl did look like she could keel over at any minute. As a last ditch effort, Kaylee hauled the girl upright. Nothing.

"Kaylee?" a voice called, worriedly. "Oh, God!" another voice said. Suddenly there was the sound of running feet and then business-like hands were prying Kaylee off of Esther. Distantly, Kaylee felt herself turn and look at the people who had come to her aid. It was Simon and the captain.

"What happened, Kaylee?" the captain asked, his voice stern, but his eyes worried.

"She won't wake!" Kaylee heard herself say, her voice sounding far away and tinny. "I was just comin' to give her some lunch, but she won't wake up!"

"Doc?" he asked.

Simon shook his head, hands rummaging through his med kit - _Where had he gotten that from?_ Kaylee wondered - and coming up with a vial of something or another and a syringe.

"Pulse and breathing are within normal range, albeit on the slower side," Simon said. Kaylee felt herself sag in relief. At least she was alive. "I don't know what's wrong with her and I hesitate to give her any medicine until I know what's causing this; otherwise, I risk making it worse."

"Is there nothing you can do?" Kaylee asked shakily. Sure, she was glad Esther was alive, but to see her there lying all limp like that - well, more limp than normal - was terrifying.

"Allow me," Mal said. And then, before Kaylee even realized what he was doing, Mal leaned forward, grabbed Esther's ear, and _twisted it_ near halfway around. Kaylee looked on in horror - girl was in bad shape enough, didn't need folk to go messin' with her while she was out - when suddenly Esther's eyes flew open and she gasped.

"Oh, thank God she's okay!" Kaylee cried out in relief. "How'd you know to do that, Captain?"

"Old soldier's trick," Mal said, by way of explanation, his concerned expression quickly hardening as he faced the girl.

"Oh, 他妈的," Esther breathed, looking around in shock and horror at the faces wreathing her. "真不好意思！"

"Care to explain what just happened?" Mal asked.

"Captain," Kaylee chided gently. "She just woke up; give her some time to breathe. Besides, ain't no way she knows why she passed out."

"Actually, I do," Esther said, much to Kaylee's surprise - but not, she noted, to the Captain's. "Which is why I am so very sorry for frightening you all. You see, I didn't exactly pass out."

"Do tell," said Mal, with an air of forced patience.

"Remember how I said I could read the future?" Esther asked as Simon helped her sit up. "Well, that's what it looks like when I do. Kind of."

"You could have warned us!" Kaylee said indignantly. She felt bad for getting upset with Esther, but she'd just been so scared when she thought her dead.

"I didn't intend to be out so long!" Esther cried. "Really, I didn't. I was just trying to figure out how...how to best keep away from the Feds," she said, stumbling a bit at the end. Kaylee noticed that the Captain's expression was skeptical and Simon's...Simon's was more thoughtful than anything, even a bit worried. Kaylee didn't know why they were reacting that way; that seemed as good an excuse as any.

"I think it's high time that we test that claim," the Captain said. "See if you really are as all fired good at figurin' out the future as you say you are. Jayne," he said, surprising Kaylee who hadn't realized that nearly the whole crew had come to see what all the commotion was about.

"Yeah?" the man in question asked.

"Go get me that chess board."

* * *

Three hours later Mal'd thrown every test he could think of at the girl. She'd bested every single one of them in chess - Shepherd, oddly enough, was the one who'd lasted the longest against her and even that game had still been over in a matter of minutes - so he'd decided it was time to move on to other tests.

When Mal couldn't think of any tests, Esther had suggested some herself, apparently eager to prove her abilities. She had them bounce a ball on the wall and told them she'd predict where it would land the instant it left their hands. And damned if she didn't get it spot on every time, even when River of all people took the ball and - with a smile at Esther - threw it against the wall in such a way that it hit the upstairs walkway, bounced off some shipping crates, hit yet another wall, and then rolled along the floor until it rested against Esther's wheel-chair. River had walked away before the ball had landed, so Mal couldn't read her face, but if he hadn't known better he would have sworn she knew it was going to land there. The idea that River may have some of the same abilities as Esther claimed was starting to bear some looking into.

Shaking off that unsettling feeling, Mal had ordered them to move on to a new test he'd thought of during the previous one. All the crew members gathered around Esther's chair and peppered her with questions about the history of the 'verse. If what the girl said about that data rod was true, she should know the answers to them. By informal agreement, each crew member mostly asked questions about their home planet's histories. Jayne dropped out early on ("Aw, hell, I never did see the point in schoolin'."), followed by Kaylee, then Wash.

Simon and Inara continued on, with Simon taking up the bulk of the questioning and Inara supplementing. Mal had learned more about how complex Companioning was in ten minutes than he had in a lifetime, as after Inara ran out of questions about Sihnon she turned to quizzing Esther on companion history again, ending by saying she'd asked all the questions she could ask without running afoul of guild law. Zoe and Mal followed shortly after, having asked all they could about the war.

Mal was surprised by the depth of Esther's knowledge, everything from supply line routes to the Independent commander's apparently not-so-secret affair with a colonel, which Mal himself had only found out by accident. Small wonder they'd lost, if the Alliance knew that much about them. Way the girl talked, you'd think she'd fought in the war, not just learned about it.

Suddenly ice gripped Mal's chest. Esther looked about eighteen now, and the war started eleven years ago. That meant the girl woulda been about eight when it started, thirteen by the time it finished. With blood chilling certainty, Mal knew that Esther had fought in the war. Not with weapons, no, it was much worse than that. With her mind.

About six months into the war, everything had changed. The Independents had started out with overwhelming public support, massive numbers, enormous arms depots, surprisingly vast stores of money, and the all-important home field advantage. Most folk had thought they couldn't lose. Mal himself had been one of them. Sure enough, they'd won victory after victory, crushing any Alliance incursions.

They'd been so successful that there'd actually been bickering among the leaders about whether or not they should go on the offensive. The thought was to take the fight to the Core to crush the Alliance once and for all. Mal'd never been in favor of that plan - all he wanted was to protect his home, not destroy the homes of others - but his thoughts on the matter had been rendered moot when the tide of the war changed. The shift happened nearly overnight and suddenly far from going on the offensive, he and the others had been struggling merely to slow down the rate of their losses.

Sure they'd had victories after that point - such as the destruction of the I.A.V. Alexander - which in retrospect were what stretched the war out so long, but they'd been few and far between. All of a sudden it was like the Alliance knew the Independents' every action before they themselves did. Talk among the troops was that the Alliance had a secret spy network among the Independents' number and had only activated them when it seemed they were about to lose the war. But now he knew the truth.

Mal had suffered so many losses. The loss of the war. The loss of his commanders. The loss of the troops who'd put their faith in him. The loss of his mother and all those back home he held dear. Hell, his whole planet had been lost.

And all those losses were too much to bear, which was why Mal'd purchased his boat in the first place, as a way to get away from the reminders of them. And yet somehow the cause of every one of those losses had made its way onto the instrument he'd used to escape them. And she was sitting right there in front of him.

_If not for her, they would be alive today._

In that moment, Mal felt the overwhelming urge to act. He should at least do something, say something, to acknowledge this terrible wrong. Scream at her, hit her, shoot her, do anything because -

_she caused this._

And yet, did she? To the Alliance, the girl was just another one of their puppets, a tool to be used. If her story was true, and Mal was inclined to think it was, she'd been essentially sold into slavery at an age when most children were starting primary school. The first thing they did was kill all her companions and cut into her brain, and Mal had no reason to believe the rest of her years spent there were any different. The Alliance had used her as a tool and extracted the winning strategy for the war from her; the girl had complied under duress, no more, no less.

_She could have fought against them._

Mal could begin his fury beginning to cool in earnest now as the ludicrousness of his reasoning became apparent. Ask an eight year old to stand up to Alliance torture where even the most hardened veteran might crack? Even through all his grief, Mal knew it would be the height of foolishness to expect that from her.

His grief. 天啊, if he was grieving, what kind of toll had that taken on her? Before she'd even hit her teenage years, the girl had already been the cause of the deaths of millions, including what amounted to almost her entire home world. All against her will. That had to make a body feel awfully impotent, having all that power but forced to use it towards terrible ends. And the guilt! Mal knew how gut-wrenchingly painful it felt to carry the deaths of the men he'd lost on his conscience, but this girl, she had to bear the weight of the deaths of more folk than he'd meet in a lifetime.

With a jolt, Mal realized Esther had left this crucial time period out of her story altogether. She'd told them all the beginning and the end, but she'd skipped the middle period, her time as the Alliance's tool, in its entirety. Was she also running from her loss?

Or did she leave it out because she was a willing tool of the Alliance? She may have been taken unwillingly - that's assuming Mal believed her story - but a lot could change in over twelve years' time. And the combination of torture and brainwashing, not to mention the ability to physically tinker with the girl's mind? That was a potent combination.

Though he wanted to believe Esther's story, Mal knew the odds of it being true had just plummeted. And yet - what would the Alliance have to gain by placing their most valuable tool on his boat? Such an oversized weapon to catch small fish like him and his crew. After all, they were all ordinary folk on the ship, nothing special about any of them.

Any save River, that is. Mal knew he'd seen flashes of reading in her, too. Girl knew things she shouldn't, things she couldn't, correctly predicted things she had no way of knowing. His mind called up River in the hold earlier, throwing the ball, not even looking, knowing it would land at Esther's feet. And in that moment, Mal knew River could read the future, too.

Sure, Esther had said River's abilities were different from her own, but if she was an Alliance operative, that was all the more reason to doubt the truth of her words.

The more Mal thought about it, the more clear a potential Alliance motive became. Esther herself had said the Alliance was searching for River, using Esther as a tool to do so. Well, it had to be pretty damned hard to capture a girl who could read the future, even one as crack brained as River. Maybe that was the reason Esther was here - as a ploy to recapture River, to lure her into a scenario where the Alliance could take her back. It would take a reader to catch a reader, and that fact almost justified the Alliance motivation to send someone like Esther out into the field. Almost.

But that was all conjecture and there was still a chance Esther might be innocent. Until he knew for sure either way, he could not act. And after all that thinking, Mal came to one inevitable conclusion; he didn't know what to think.

So instead of acting on his feelings, Mal decided to bide his time and wait. The girl herself was physically harmless, doc had assured him, hardly able to twitch a finger. So long as Mal didn't let her influence where the ship went (ie potentially straight into an Alliance trap), and kept her under guard at all times, she could not hurt them. In the meanwhile, Mal plastered a fake smile on his face. The girl could not be permitted to know anything was amiss, not yet. Not until Mal had formed his own plan to deal with her.

* * *

**A/N:** So, the plot's heating up! This chapter went into an unexpected direction, but let me tell you, I loved writing it! I get to delve more into Esther's psyche every day (and I haven't even written in her POV yet!), and WOW is that an interesting place to be!

Okay, so I realize the pace of updates has slowed. And I'm thinking that's going to be a permanent change - at this point I'm aiming for monthly updates on pretty much whatever day of the week I get around to it. I've got classes and other commitments to deal with and as I said, they come first.

However, to try to speed things up a bit for you all, instead of going through three rounds of edits before I post, I'm going to try posting the mostly unedited version here and make changes to it as I post. That means you'll be seeing a fair number of tiny changes for the next...well, long while, actually, but I should have most of them done in a few weeks.

Also, for those of you who appreciated this chapter, know that you have Mendip123 to thank for it! Thanks to their lovely reviews and messages, I wrote about 75% of this chapter in a day. Not that I'm the sort of author who would hold a story hostage for reviews, of course. It's just that a review is a reminder that there are interested readers and I should really get a move on on writing! So I do!

Those of you who are observent may note that I changed the age Esther was when she was first taken. Don't worry, I changed the other chapter, too, for continuity. RionaEire pointed out that Esther was so young when first taken that the Alliance mistreatment might have an even stronger negative effect on her than on River. I remedied that as much as I felt comfortable doing, made her a couple of years older when she was taken. I don't want to go further than that because I really like the idea of her having affected the outcome of the Unification War, for which she can't be too old, but it's a very interesting concept...

Also, there are effects on Esther from the captivity which explain what she's like now. However, you'll have to wait and find out! Until next time!


End file.
